Rain is the prime elixir of life. Be it for humans and other life forms, rain is considered a sustainable resource on our planet. In monsoon, especially in a metropolitan city like Chennai, the runoff water is excess resulting in the dissemination of rainwater to 40%. This water can be preserved/Conserved using some rainwater harvesting methods. Whether you wish to live in a luxury apartment or if you are currently residing in a 2, 3, or 4 BHK apartment, the below-mentioned harvesting techniques will help function to better live.

In Chennai, Baashyaam Constructions have implemented rainwater harvesting at Plutus Residence and Crown Residence Site and successfully managed to save over 45,000+ litres of Rainwater.

Harvesting through Barrels

One of the most common yet highly effective methods for apartments is Barrel Harvesting. Installing small barrels in your apartment, ideally, a couple will help collect rainwater seamlessly. Before installing a barrel, you shall contact harvesting experts to pick the apt spot in your apartment where downpour occurs much often. Besides, harvesting experts can tilt the barrels at an angle that restores higher amount of water without manual interpretation. This one-time investment on barrels (as much as required) is handy during monsoons.

• Dry Harvesting System

As a newfangled method of the existing barrel system, the dry harvesting system uses considerably larger tanks in the apartment’s widespread open areas. In the dry Harvesting system, the PVC pipes from the gutters traverse directly into the tanks instead of traveling across the underground. The prime reason to consider the dry method is that the tubes could be dried between seasons yet draining directly into the tank every time the rain falls.

• Wet Harvesting System

Wet rainwater harvesting has multitudinous advantages in which the rainwater can be taken directly to a tank beneath the ground. Hence, you don’t catch up with visible pipes because all the pipes are ideally buried down. Regardless of multiple pipes connected, only the gutters may be visible. If the path to transport rainwater to the water tank is complicated in your apartment, then the wet harvesting system is a better way to solve it. 

Installing a Ferro Cement Tank

Ferro cement tank is a sustainable rainwater harvesting system that can be of one-time investment for your apartment. The tank is coupled with a dual filter; one at the output, and another at the tank’s input. While the input filter’s purpose is to filter/eliminate the substances such as sand, stone, etc., the output filter helps bring down the parts per million (ppm) of rainwater to drinking water level. To maintain the consistency of the system, you are advised to change the filter every year.

Harvesting methods by scientific technologies

In luxury apartments, rainwater harvesting can be sensibly yet comfortably done using sensors. The sensors used here are to examine the amount of water being consumed in each room on a day-to-day basis. While the sensors facilitated rainwater tanks (within the apartment) collect water during monsoon, it further circulates water to each room depending upon the corresponding sensors’ data.

The excess water available in the harvesting tank goes to another tank for emergency purposes. If you consider the process as handy for your apartment, you will be required to consult an engineer to pick up the right sensor depending upon the water consumption ratio.

Moveable Harvesting Block

The water consumption by the balcony garden is often sprinkled by us & the required amount of water volume vary based on the type of vegetation. In such cases, having a movable rainwater harvesting block is ideal. It can be customized and built with a water sprayer. The benefit of a moveable harvesting block is that you can preserve all the rainwater that is freely flowing in the balcony, which can be then traversed via a sprayer directly to the vegetation placed within.

Depending on the requirements, you can choose the number of moveable harvesting blocks. But ideally, you need an expert to calculate your balcony’s dimensions and design a block that best fits your apartment’s balcony space